Ingot-mold



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. WEBB.

Ingot-Mold. No. 223,566.` Patented 1'an.'13, 1880.

IJETOL- d@ mgm VQ E f z E i l L 2 Sheets--Sheet'J 2.

G. WEBBf. Ingot-Mold.

No. 223,566. Patented Jan. 13, 188m,

FIG. 3.

UNITED STATES ATENT Ormes..

GEORGE WEBB, OF JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.:

lNGOT-MOLD'.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 223,566, dated January 13, 1880. Application filed June 26, 1879.

To all whom t may concern Be it known 'that I, GEORGE WEBB, of Johnstown, Cambria county, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements relating to Ingot-Molds and their Appurtenances, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of steel it has long been common to cast the fluid metal in the form of 1 o thick bars of rectangular section, denominated ingots, which are afterward subjected to hammering or rolling. The molds for this purpose are usually of castiron. I have improved the molds and the means for holding and operating them.

My improvements are intended more especially to be used in combination with means for subjecting the material of the ingot to compression while in a fluid state. I employa pe zo culiar combined hydraulic press.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, and represent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

Figure lis an elevation, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the sectional mold and the accompanying parts. Fig. 3 is a corresponding plan view, showing the same with a dotted outline, giving the relative positionof 3o the big cylinder of the hydraulic press, which,

it Will be understood, is above. The figure also shows, in section, the stout holdin g-down bolts by which the top and bottom of the machine are held directly together to allow the 3 5 intense pressure required. Fig. 4 represents one of the lookin g devices detached.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the gures.

A A2, Ste., are the sections ofa mold, adapted,

4o when applied together, to present a smooth and cylindrical exterior and a smooth cavity of uniform rectangular section on the interior. This cavity receives the melted steel and forms the ingot. The surfaces which abut together at the junctions of'the several sections are marked a. They are carefully and accurately fitted together, and, instead of being left absolutely smooth, are left with iine scoresacross their surfaces, such as result from iling with joints presents these vents for the gases at such closely-distributed points astend greatly to prevent the accumulation of gas to induce blow-holes or flaws. The sections, being very strongly bound together by means to be described below, are, in the use ofthe invention, filled with melted steel and moved into a position where the contents are subjectedl to a great pressure, preferably by a peculiar compound hydraulic press, which will form the subject of another application for patent. The pressure thus induced serves, with the freedom for the escape of gas due to my construction of mold, to insure absolutely uniform and sound metal in theingots. Such ingots make superior steel.

The sections A A2, Ste., are held together by massive clamps B' B2, which are supplied in suiicient numbers, and arranged to embrace the mold at short distances apart along its length. The parts of each clamp are hung by pivots b b2 to a swinging arm or jib, B, which is keyed or otherwise lirmly fixed on a turning mast, C, which is supported in a suitable guide at the top, (not represented,) and is formed Vat the bottom in a foot, (y, which fits tightly in a corresponding cylindrically-bored recess in a bed-casting, A. Provision is made by a passage, c, connected to a suitable pumpingengine or other means of controlling water, for permitting water or oil under pressure to act on the whole under face of the enlarged foot C', and to raise the mast G and its con* nections bodily when desired.

It will be understood that on sufficiently raising the parts by thepressure of water under the i'oot O' the ingot-mold and its connections are allowed to swing clear of the bed, and

may then .be swung around, turning on the line" of the mast C as an axis of motion. This is done to allow the in got-mold and its contents to be taken away and a new mold supplied. On swinging the ingot-mold into the correct `position under the press, it is allowed to sink and rest iirmly upon the bed A by simply letting out the water from under G.

The clamps B B2 are very strong, and lit tightly to the exterior of the sections A A2. They are locked by the application of stout locking-pieces or gibs D D, which apply on slightly-inclined faces b, as represented, so that the center part or body, D, is received in narrow slots D2, and the ends or heads D take strong hold, respectively, on the outer faces of the clamps. The locking-piece farthest from the hinges or pivots b b2 may, after loosening it with a heavy hammer, be removed by simply moving it bodily outward beyond the end of the clamps. The other locking-piecevthat nearest the pivots b' 2is inserted in a horizontalposition by being thrust endwise through the rectangular hole, D2, represented, which is large enough to admit it, and is locked by being turned partly around' and moving it bodily by a heavy hammer or otherwise to.- ward the ingot-mold.

The exteriors of the clamps B B2 are slightly tapered to allow these locking-pieces being driven home to engage them together very tightly.

I apply a piece of thick rolled-iron plate, al, in the bottom of the rectangular cavity for the in got W before the ingot metal is run in, and I apply a similar plate, c2, on the top of the molten metal immediately the filling is cornpleted. A piece of cast-iron or steel, H, made only a little smaller than the cavity in the sectional mold, is applied in the position shown, and the upper end of it is made to receive the force of the plunger of the press. (Not represented.)

The bottom plate, a', receives the force of the -dense stream of falling metal, which -is otherwise liable to cut and injure the metal of the mold. The top plate, a2, should iit quite tightly, and aids in preventing the molten metal from gushing up around the set H and escaping when the intense pressure is applied.

After release from the clamps B' B2, the sections of the mold are held together by slight bands, (not represented,) which bands may be applied previous to presenting the mold under the press to be lled, and are removed at a subsequent period when the ingot-mold and its contents have been taken out of the clamps and removed to a convenient distance.

The bands may be stout wires or strips of hoop-iron secured by any suitable tie.

All the several parts are made with reference to easy and quick operation. I esteem it essential that the heavy pressure induced by my hydraulic press shall be applied to the metal before it commences to set, even on the outside. f

The principal blow-holes and honeycomb places arein the interior of an in got, within an inch or less from the surface. By applying the intense pressure before the exterior of the ingot has thickened, the gas is delivered immediately out through thej ust suiciently open joints induced by my striated or iile-roughened surfaces a.

A matter to which I attach much importance remains to be described. I have discovered that the presence of the mineral known as dolomite tends, by some means, the theory of which is but imperfectly conjectured, to prevent the formation of gas or to facilitate the exodus thereof, so as to avoid pipings in I burn the dolomite, which is an I the ingot. impure limestone, and, having produced therefrom a lime containing magnesia, treat the same with water to form a thin paste analogous to ordinary whitewash, but thicker. This wash is applied by a brush or otherwise over the whole inner surface of each section. of the ingot-mold. I also similarly coat one or both the striated surfaces forming the joints.

l propose to provide a tank iilled with a thin solution of the dolomite-wash, and, by cooling the ingot-molds in this tank, prepare a good foundation for the subsequent coatings.

I propose to make this dolomite coatingthe subject of a separate-application for patent.

Modications may be made in many of the details. It is practicable to employ the clamps more thickly crowded together, so that six instead of five may be used in an ingot-mold of the size shown; or it is possible to dispense with one or more of the clamps shown; but I prefer about the number represented. It is only essential that there be sufficient to hold the sections A A2, Ste., strongly and tightly together, and that they be easy of manipulation, to allow the removal of thc ingot and replacing of the same molds or of different ones in position to have the contents again compressed.

In Fig. 3, Z represents another jib, adapted to transfer the in got-molds to and from a railroad or other suitable provision on the oppo- IOO IIO

site side of the press from that at jihef"n melted steel is received.

I claim as my inventionl. In combination with aningot-inold formed of sections A A2, &c., the clamps Bl B2, mounted on a mast, C C', adapted for vertical liftingand horizontal swin ging, as herein speci- IZO the separate set or top piece, H, all substan- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set tially as Aand adapted to serve the purposes my hand this 22dday of May, 1879, in the herein specified. presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

4. In combination with a press provided i v 5 with a jib having clamps, as described, for GEO. W'EBB.

moving and holding the molds for filling and compressing, another ]'ib2 Z, turning on a cen- Witnesses:

ter near the other side of the press, for intro- A. MONTGOMERY, dueing the empty and removing the filled J. W. BEES.

1o molds, as herein specified. 

